Woodbury & the lowdown on St. Paul suburbs (Eagan, Apple Valley: homes, neighborhoods)

[Sunbrite]

Greetings!

We're looking for a suburb near St. Paul to live in. I work in downtown St. Paul and hubby works near Ft. Snelling, so we'd like to have a reasonable (20 min. or so) commute.

Originally, we had narrowed it down to the Como Park or Roseville area as far it being walkable and having parks nearby, and being family-oriented and things to do. But the homes are just not our style, so now we're looking at St. Paul suburbs within 20 min. or so of either downtown St. Paul or Ft. Snelling.

We really loved St. Anthony Park (the location near U-M, general vibe of the place) but the town is just too small and the homes there are a bit over our price range.

Right now Woodbury is on the list, and we would definitely like to look at other places.

What we'd like:

-Good neighborhoods for a family with 3-year old, of course good schools
-Neighborhoods near libraries and elementary schools
-WALKABLE (this is huge for me, and I am not sure what I am reading about Woodbury on here fits the bill for this…..)
-Lots of parks
-Would prefer more Mom and Pop coffee shops and restaurants, but we do like the chain retail stores (i.e. Wal-Mart, Target)
-Would be nice for it to be similar to Stillwater or Excelsior as far as history, downtown and shops goes, but more Mom and Pop and less "trendy" (near lakes/rivers would also be nice but not necessary)

Can you give a quick summary/description of various St. Paul suburbs (including Woodbury) that may have at least some of what we're looking for to help us decide which areas are worth looking at.

Thank you in advance for ALL your feedback and suggestions.

[Globe199]

Looks like you're going to have to make some compromises. "Woodbury" is not compatible with "mom & pop" and "downtown & history." Those things are at the opposite end of the spectrum from Woodbury, which is a quintessential car suburb.

[TimtheGuy]

Hastings sounds like it might fit your bill. Right on the Mississippi River and a mile to the beautiful St. Croix River. WalMart and Target in town in addition to 150 year old downtown. 30 minutes or less to downtown St. Paul & Ft. Snelling. More 'bang for your buck' on housing. Housing stock from every decade from the 1800's to present.

[MichaelItman]

Sunbrite,

I'm a huge fan of Hastings if you're willing to make the drive, but 30 minutes is a bit long. I'd recommend visiting Hastings instead of living there - there are so many great places to live in & near St. Paul that it doesn't seem necessary.

First, have you thought about living in other St. Paul neighborhoods not including Como Park? What about Highland? Very close to the Falls and River Road, and all the bluffs there, but also close to lots of cute mom & pop stores. Similarly, Anywhere near Summit Avenue (Macalester-Groveland) gives you access to those biking paths & to the River, while providing you with the cute shops all along Grand Avenue.

There may be other St. Paul neighborhoods that fit your housing needs - what kind of homes are you looking for that Como Park doesn't fit the bill?

Mendota Heights is another suburb to look at - a bit more cookie-cutter than you're probably looking for, but very small commute and access to lots of the outdoors. Not much history there though - much more of that in St. Paul.

Hope that helps!

Michael

[golfgal]

Rosemount would be great. 20 minutes to both Downtown St. Paul and the Fort Snelling area. Eagan would also be an option. Both would be easier commutes to Fort Snelling then Woodbury too. Rosemount is more walkable than Eagan but Eagan has plenty of places that are walkable as well. You also get some of the best schools in the nation.

[Sunbrite]

Thank you so much everyone for the feedback, please keep them coming!

I should be more specific- we're looking more for walkable/pedestrian friendly neighborhoods, where you can maybe walk to a park or school easily- not necessarily walkable towns themselves, although that would be nice as well.

Hastings does sound intriguing but we'd prefer a shorter commute- 20 min. or so. But I will definitely visit Hastings with all the great recommendations that we're hearing!

MichaelItman- We did look at Highland Park and Mac-Groveland, and the housing prices are out of our price range. Also, both areas are much too busy for us- we want a more relaxed, laid -back atmosphere.

Como Park and Roseville was more in our price range, but the homes were all too small and also very dated structurally, and many were overpriced in our opinion. We currently live in Mendota Heights and it's extremely safe and a wonderful commute for both of us, but we find there's not much to do here and we have to always go to Eagan to do any shopping. Also, it's not as family-oriented as we would prefer- for example, there's no library, grocery stores or community center in Mendota Heights-we're always having to go to Eagan for everything.

We like Eagan, but we're just not that excited about it, you know? I think we feel the same way about Woodbury. But we'll probably look in both places for housing still. But I think we're prefer a place with a nice downtown nearby, or near lakes or rivers, or with some more culture or history. I know I originally said it wasn't required but we just need something to add some interest.

I don't think we've visited Rosemount yet Golf Gal, we'll have to give that a look, we love walkable neighborhoods.

Thanks again everyone for your help, would love to hear any more suggestions, insights, and feedback. We've moved quite a bit already and we really would like to find a place that at least fits most of what we're looking for. I understand that compromise is necessary, and we feel like we're going to be living in this next place for a long time so we should at least be excited and happy to live there.

[Sunbrite]

Hi everyone!

Just want to let you know we did end up visiting Hastings and were very impressed. However, it's too long of a commute to downtown St. Paul and Ft. Snelling for us to consider living there. But a perfect destination for a short day trip, (if you are not in the mood for a longer trip up north) Very charming town, and we were surprised to see the mix of natural beauty, trains, rivers, etc. in addition to a lot of convenient shopping, which I didn't realize it had. It just felt like a town that you could really relax in, was laid-back, but at the same time had a lot of modern conveniences. I'd basically describe it as a hidden gem, so thank you so much for introducing us to a town that we overlooked and knew nothing about. We will definitely be heading there again.

Housing search- this has been going kind of slow. Our budget is under 200K and we're really starting to feel priced out of Eagan, and there doesn't seem to be much inventory right now anyway. Also, this site may be a snapshot, but it seems like EVERYONE wants to live in Eagan (at least it feels that way) so we're not sure about all that competition in finding a place that suits us.

So we're also considering Rosemount and Apple Valley. I searched for both places on this forum but still have questions- can you weigh in on the differences between Rosemount and Apple Valley- pretty much anything about what it's like to live there, what the neighborhoods are like, etc. Also, what about schools? We have a toddler in preschool so schools are on the top of our list. Also, Golf Gal spoke about this before-can you give me more information about how walkable the neighborhoods are for both areas? How are the parks in these area? Walkability and parks are huge for my criteria, and I would really prefer parks to be within close walking distance to residential neighborhoods.

Thanks again everyone for your feedback, we really appreciate it.

[eluko]

Apple Valley and Rosemount wont be much different than Woodbury or Eagan. Rosemount does have a slight small town feel but most of it is an expansion of Apple Valleys developments.

I think White Bear Lake would fit well with what your looking for. It still has its historic downtown next to the lake, walkable old neighborhoods, and just a few miles north of maplewood mall. If towns like Stillwater and Hastings are too far, then White Bear would be my third choice.

[golfgal]

Apple Valley is bigger, more traffic, but closer to shopping by a mile or two. You have a bigger range of housing prices there as well. There are 2 high schools that serve most of Apple Valley, Eastview and Apple Valley. Both are good, Eastview is just better. I would focus a search on that part of town. Rosemount is more like a small town vs a suburb. It's a place where you will run into friends at the grocery store, restaurants, etc. You can easily walk from one end of town to the other. I think there is a stat out there that no one in Rosemount lives more than 4 blocks from a park. Some parks are better than others but they are all well maintained, etc. Schools are excellent. The teaching positions in Rosemount are sought after by district employees and many teachers open enroll their kids into the Rosemount Schools. Nice thing about MN is the open enrollment policy so say you decide to move to Apple Valley but as your kids get older you find they want a good band program, you can enroll them in the Rosemount schools-you just have to get them to/from school.

There will be more housing inventory in Apple Valley because it's 60,000 people compared to 20,000 but the neighborhoods will be similar in either place. We like the fact that Rosemount doesn't have all the stores, etc. but we are just a couple miles from Apple Valley and everything you need. It keeps it quite and more small townish. Waking to parks, stores, etc. is not going to be an issue at all in Rosemount. Apple Valley you will have plenty of parks as well. The shopping areas are just busier.

It's 15 minutes closer to St. Paul and Fort Snelling vs Hastings.

I would not bother looking at White Bear Lake, cute town but too far away from Ft. Snelling for your linking.

Can't remember if this has been mentioned to you but where ever you end up, sign up for Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE). It's a fantastic program and a great way to meet people!

[Pisces69]

Take Ford pkwy across the river to 46th street in Mpls. That neighborhood is next to the giant Minnehaha park and close to fort snelling and easy to get to downtown st paul. Walkable, not overpriced and light rail access and the elementary is a few blocks away.